Uh Oh, broken part on my new Oslo.

[RSNovi]

I was cleaning out the ashes today and I found a piece of something which didn't look like wood in the ashes. Further inspection revealed that piece of the stove had broken off and then I found another piece cracked. Please let me know how serious this is. I have attached pictures.

 

[ansehnlich1]

That right there is NOT a big deal. You see, your oslo is like mine was. The fiberboard is cemented along the rear there. Half of mine fell out just like yours. In fact, my fiberboard actually cracked down the middle. So, I bought a new one, took the top off the stove, carefully lifted the insulation blanket out, then removed the fiberboard and put the new one in. The new one is NOT cemented and does not need to be.

Burn that puppy!

 

[cptoneleg]

Mine was cracked all the way across where it looks like it was cemented. seems to be burning fine.

 

[RSNovi]

Thank you as your comments make me feel better. I probably burn the rest of the season and swap it out in the summer.

 

[firefighterjake]

No worries . . . just stove cement that has come off. You should see no change in performance . . . but if you truly are concerned you can go to your local hardware store and pick up some stove cement, take a dab and smear some in the gap there between the metal and baffle board . . . I sometimes do this in my Spring/Fall cleaning.

 

[Green Energy]

Here is a thread on the same issue that I went through last year. Bottom line is there is no problem with the cement from the back of the baffle falling out. I found that there does not seem to be a way to not have it fallout.

UPDATE on my Olso baffle cement: As described in the below thread link, last year I applied a healthy bead of stove cement on the top and bottom of the fiberboard baffle. It was firmly connected to the back of the stove at the beginning of last winter. I just happened to bump the baffle a couple days ago. It is no longer connected to the stove, i.e., the cement is no longer attaching it to the stove.

I think that the thermal expansion of the cast iron is different enough from the baffle material (vermiculite?) that the cement is simply not going to keep it attached over repeated heating-cooling cycles. I do not think the floating baffle affects the performance of my stove as it still is directing the combustion gases around the front of the stove. The only issue is to make sure that you do not knock it out of position with a piece of wood poking up between the secondary burn tubes.

One poster in the below thread said Jotul cements the baffle to keep it from bouncing around during shipping.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/44285/

 

[Shari]

I was going to chime in here earlier but wanted to see what other Oslo owners had to say first. My baffle is not 'glued' in place and apparently it never was.

Shari

 

[CarbonNeutral]

I've always assumed that mine floating around was fine... I just push it back into place once in a while.

 

[RSNovi]

Sometimes that crack will open up to around 3/16 of an inch. I push it back together. I wonder if I could just squeeze some stove cement in the crack to keep it from open and closing.

 

[Green Energy]

Sometimes that crack will open up to around 3/16 of an inch. I push it back together. I wonder if I could just squeeze some stove cement in the crack to keep it from open and closing.

Running a bead of cement won't hurt. As stated above, I had it liberally applied stove cement so as to stay attached, but after one year (possibly must less time as I did not check it until recently), it is no longer attached. I really do think that there is a significant difference in the thermal expansion between the cast iron and the fiberboard so that the cement won't hold for many heat-cool cycles.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Actually the orignial baffle plates were iron. There were two of them and they met in the center running n/s. The iron would warp due to overfire and Jotul got tired of replacing, so they moved to the baffle board we have now. Actually, half my cement fell out a few years ago, and my baffle cracked n/s right where the cement stopped along the bead in the back. I always felt it cracked right there because of the one side being cemented and the other side not. I think if I had half the cement out I'd remove all of it. This is why I only lay my baffle board in there now, no cement, no problem.

 

[Green Energy]

Yeah, no more cement on the baffle for me either. I figure that if I accidentally bump the baffle, I would rather have it loose than fixed.